Emergency Medical Services training at CPUT has received a major boost with the opening of a new immersive simulation centre, which can emulate real emergency scenarios to train students to treat patients in life-threatening emergencies.
The state-of-the art immersive clinical simulation centre can replicate emergency scenarios, such as road accidents, and will be used for learning as well as assessment purposes.
EMS lecturer John Meyer says that before students can do their work integrated learning the university has to ensure that they are competent to perform procedures on real people.
“With the simulation based education we provide a hands-on experience, where real life situations are simulated for students to develop their skills. They can practice over and over again without causing any harm.”
A range of different scenarios can be pre-set for students, including for the delivery of a baby.
In this case the EMS Department has a birthing mannequin which can automatically deliver a baby, including having contractions and making sounds.
“At the back-end, the simulation technician will set up the mannequin to a pre-set scenario and the lecturer can watch the student treat the “patient” from the control room and from there also speak to the student. The technology allows the lecturer’s voice to be transmitted via the mannequin as the voice of the patient.
“We also have an observation room to which we can live stream to the rest of the students and where a facilitator can facilitate discussion. Everything is recorded on the server and this allows the students to review the video footage later.”
Meyer said an important part of the training was the debriefing process.
“Students reflect afterwards on how they performed during the scenario and will be given feedback on what went well or what went wrong and how they could better achieve the outcomes and objectives of the scenario. Students are enjoying the immersive training experience and we’ll be able to send out students who are safe and competent.”
